Dungeons & Dragons: Volume Two (UK - DVD R2)

Chris Gould takes a look at Volume Two of the popular animated show...

SynopsisA mysterious theme-park ride throws six kids into the perilous realm of the Dungeon Master. Now Bobby, Sheila, Hank, Eric, Diana and Presto—and not forgetting their new friend Uni the Unicorn—are being pursued by the evil Venger, with their only thought survival… and finding a way back home.

EpisodesServant of EvilBobby’s birthday is ruined when Sheila and the others are captured and thrown into Venger’s Prison of Agony. With Dungeon Master’s guidance, Bobby and Uni must locate the prison, befriend a giant and rescue their friends.

Quest of the Skeleton WarriorDekkion, a spellbound ancient warrior, send the kids to the lost tower, where they must face their greatest fears as the seek the Circle of Power.

The Garden of ZinnWhen Bobby is bitten by a poisonous Dragon Turtle, he and Sheila must remain in the care of a strange creature, Solarz, while the others seek out an antidote—the foot of a yellow dragon—in the mysterious Garden of Zinn.

The BoxThe kids find a way home at long last. But their return leaves Dungeon Master and the Realm in great jeopardy as Venger seeks his chance to take over.

The Lost ChildrenThe kids must brave the dangers of Venger’s castle to locate a ship which, according to the Dungeon Master, just might take them home.

P.R.E.S.T.O. Spells DisasterAnother one of Presto’s spells misfires, this time leaving Presto and Uni to search for the others who are trapped in a giant’s castle and pursued by a strange creature called a slime beast.

The Girl Who Dreamed TomorrowThe kids meet Terri, who can dream the future and leads them toward their doorway home—where trouble awaits.

VideoAs with the first volume, Dungeons & Dragons is presented in its original 4:3 (1.33:1) ratio. All things considered the transfer is surprisingly good for an older animated show, being relatively free from artefacts and the like. The animation possesses a certain charm, and the image itself has good colour rendition that showcases the weird and wonderful locations.

AudioAll of the episodes are presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, and the tracks are perfectly serviceable. Clearly there’s nothing here to tax even the lowliest of audio equipment, but dialogue remains clear throughout showcasing the fine vocal performances, music and effects.

ExtrasAs with the first volume, the disc includes some nice animated menus and transitions featuring clips and voices from the series. The extras themselves also fallow a similar pattern, and it will come as no great surprise to learn that it is the commentaries that offer the most entertainment. This time we get commentary on the episodes Servant of Evil and The Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow, and as before they offer a wealth of information. The tracks are full of plenty of banter and are a lot of fun to listen to, even if they do venture into the realm of the trainspotter.

Next up we have a Michael Reaves Interview, which runs just shy of fifteen minutes. Reaves worked as a writer on the show, and in this short piece he discusses how he first got into writing in Los Angeles and how he eventually started to work on Dungeons & Dragons. This is interesting enough for what it is, but Reaves isn’t exactly the most exciting speaker ever.

The Title Sequence Featurette presents storyboards for the slightly altered season two opening credits, along with some very rough archival footage that is sadly all that remains of the season two titles. Personally I prefer the season one titles, but it’s nice that they’ve been included for comparison.

Character Profiles for Presto and Venger are also included, and go into a great deal of depth about the two characters. Finally we have some DVD-Rom Content, in the form of a .pdf script for Servant of Evil.

OverallVolume two is yet another worthy purchase for Dungeons & Dragons fans, and actually features a couple of my favourite episodes from the series (namely Quest of the Skeleton Warrior and The Girl Who Dreamed Tomorrow). Audio-visual elements are on a par with the first volume and the extras—although basically more of the same—are entertaining, but I would have liked more commentary tracks to give the disc some added worth. That said, this still represents good value for money for fans of the series, and for that reason comes recommended.

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